Node.js Gains Native TypeScript Support: What It Means and How to Use It

Exciting news: Node.js now includes native TypeScript support, allowing developers to run .ts files directly without extra packages like ts-node or tsc.

Previously, Node.js only executed JavaScript, requiring compilation steps or ts-node, which added complexity and extra dependencies.

With the new release, TypeScript types are stripped at runtime using @swc/wasm-typescript, enabling direct execution and interactive REPL sessions similar to node.

Key benefits: built‑in TypeScript support, no additional packages needed, and no intermediate files or module configuration.

Current support is experimental and only strips types; full language features such as enums are not yet available. Use the --experimental-strip-types flag, e.g. node --experimental-strip-types index.ts, until the feature becomes stable.

The change improves tooling integration for Prettier, Next.js, Webpack, etc., and marks a significant step for the JavaScript ecosystem, even though it may not be as seamless as Bun or Deno.